Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Shocking Grasp: Basic Action Card from the Faerûn Under Siege Starter set.

Ruling – Ability

Shocking Grasp is a Basic Action. If a card ability would affect an Action Die, Shocking Grasp could be chosen for the effect. One such example is Constantine: Antihero.

When you use Shocking Grasp, it deals one damage to a target character die. If the damage that Shocking Grasp does would KO that character, you can place the Shocking Grasp die in your Prep Area instead of Out of Play. If the character is not KO’d by the damage from Shocking Grasp, you must place the Shocking Grasp die Out of Play.

Shocking Grasp can target one of your opponent’s character dice or one of your own character dice. Players will sometimes target one of their own Sidekick dice or a character that has a When Fielded ability and KO that character with their own Shocking Grasp. This will enable them to reroll their character die next turn, as well as the Shocking Grasp die.

You can use other means to deal damage to a character with a defense larger than one, and then use the Shocking Grasp die to deal the final point of damage, allowing you to put Shocking Grasp into your Prep Area. Shocking Grasp must do the damage that KO’s the character in order for you to place the Shocking Grasp die in your Prep Area.

If you use Shocking Grasp and the damage KO’s a character, you are not required to put the Shocking Grasp die in your Prep Area. Putting the Shocking Grasp die in your Prep Area after KO’ing a character with it is optional because it says that you ‘may’ put this die in your Prep Area.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Shocking Grasp is a Basic Action Card with no energy type.
~ It does not have any affiliations, but it does have the Neutral type symbol.
~ It has a max dice of three.
~ This card is a Common and is #34 of 142.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Using Shocking Grasp during your Main Step.

~ I have a Shocking Grasp die in my Reserve Pool. My opponent has a Sidekick in the Field Zone.
~ (Main Step) I use my Shocking Grasp die to deal one damage to my opponent’s Sidekick. This KO’s the Sidekick, which allows me to place the Shocking Grasp die in my Prep Area instead of sending it Out of Play.

Example Two:
Using Shocking Grasp during your Attack Step.

~ I have a Shocking Grasp die in my Reserve Pool and a Sidekick in my Field Zone. My opponent has a Sidekick in the Field Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I assign my Sidekick as an attacker, moving it into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) My opponent assigns their Sidekick to block mine by moving their die into the Attack Zone and placing it in front of my Sidekick die (to show that it’s blocking that die).
~ (Attack Step – Actions and Globals) I use my Shocking Grasp die to deal one damage to my opponent’s Sidekick. This KO’s the Sidekick, which allows me to place the Shocking Grasp die in my Prep Area instead of sending it Out of Play. My opponent declines to use any Globals.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) My Sidekick was blocked by my opponent’s Sidekick. Even though I KO’d that Sidekick, my Sidekick will not deal any damage to my opponent.
~ (Clean Up) My Sidekick returns to the Field Zone because it was blocked and not KO’d. All dice Out of Play are moved into the Used Pile. All effects end unless otherwise stated.

Example Three:
Using Shocking Grasp on one of your own characters.

~ I have a Shocking Grasp die in my Reserve Pool and a Sidekick in the Field Zone.
~ (Main Step) I use my Shocking Grasp die to deal one damage to my Sidekick. This KO’s the Sidekick (sending it to the Prep Area), which allows me to place the Shocking Grasp die in my Prep Area instead of sending it Out of Play.

Example Four:
Using Shocking Grasp on a character with more than one defense.

~ I have a Shocking Grasp die and one Bolt energy in my Reserve Pool. I also have a level two Storm die in the Field Zone.
~ (Main Step) I spend one Bolt energy (moving it Out of Play) to use the Global on Magic Missile, dealing one damage to my Storm’s two defense. This means she can only take one more damage this turn before she’s KO’d.
~ (Main Step) I use my Shocking Grasp die to deal one damage to Storm. This KO’s Storm (sending her to the Prep Area), which allows me to place the Shocking Grasp die in my Prep Area instead of sending it Out of Play.

Official Sources

Ratings

You can find a guide to my ratings, here.
These are personal opinion of the card being showcased and not an official reflection of current major meta.

Golden Age Rating

Shocking Grasp definitely has its uses, but it’s a card that requires a specific team – especially in Golden Age. You could just throw this card on any team, but you likely aren’t going to get the full benefit unless the team has an actual use for it. A good character with a When Fielded ability and a low defense is a good reason to look at Shocking Grasp. It not only helps you churn your character, but it also gives you a bit a churn/ramp by letting you prep the action die if you KO its target. Sometimes it’s better to use an action die than bring a nasty Global. I can easily give this card a rogue rating for Golden Age. It’s a great card in the hands of the right pilot.

Shocking Grasp: Basic Action Card gets a rating of three out of five stars.

Modern Age Rating

I haven’t seen a bunch of teams that would find this card as an easy plug-and-play in Modern Age. I think this is a very useful card for the same reasons that it’s useful in Golden Age. If Bat-Family finds a meta spot in Modern Age, I could see this card potentially finding its way onto a few variants of that team, but probably not with a majority of them. It can be a good way to KO a level one Alfred, but Unstable Canister provides clearer and more effective option. Someone that’s staying away from Globals would be more likely to use this card. Again – great card, but requires the right pilot, which is why it earns another rogue rating.

Shocking Grasp: Basic Action Card gets a rating of three out of five stars.

Prime Rating

At the time of writing, this card was not legal for play in the Prime format.

Casual Play Rating

Shocking Grasp has text that’s very easy to understand for most beginners. I’ve seen several players asking about advanced tactics and strategy with this card so that’s one reason why I thought I would feature it. I’ve also noticed that the text on this card can be slightly confusing for those that do not speak and/or read English very well, which was another reason I chose to feature this card for this week’s article. However, the language barrier issue is not part of my consideration for my casual rating system. I wanted to put this article out there to help my friends in other countries to better understand this card. I know it’s easier for many of my friends to translate my articles than it is to translate card text. I’m here for all players across the world. I hope this article helps shed some light on this card for anyone out there that may be having trouble with it. I also hope it helps newer players with some uses for it that they may not have noticed before. I can easily recommend this card for players of all skill levels.

Shocking Grasp: Basic Action Card gets a rating of five out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

Today, we’re going to take a look at Flaming Sword, Basic Action Cardfrom the Dungeons and Dragons Faerûn Under Siege Set. This is a whopper of an article today!

Ruling – Ability

Flaming Sword has several abilities on it. The first ability is Equip, which allows a player to attach (or Equip) this Action Die to a character with the Equip icon. You can attach Gear when you field it or at the beginning of any turn that the die is active. Bonuses from Gear do not stack; it acts as a While Active ability. You may also switch the die to another character with the Equip icon at any time you could normally attach the die.

When a character that has Gear attached to it leaves the Field Zone, the Gear stay in the Field Zone. It will stay unattached until you could attach it to normally another character. When a character with Gear attached to it is captured, the Gear will go with it. When the captured character returns, the Gear will return with it, still attached to the character.

If a character would lose the Equip Icon, the Gear would become unattached and stay in the Field Zone until such a time you could attach it to a legal target.

The next ability on Flaming Sword says that the equipped character gets a +2A and +2D. The moment you attach the Flaming Sword to a character, the attack and defense of that character will each increase by two.

The next part of the ability says that the Flaming Sword deals one damage to character dice that are blocking or blocked by the character that’s equipped with the Flaming Sword. This damage is considered ability damage and the Flaming Sword is the source of the damage, not the character it’s attached to. This damage is done after blockers are declared and before the Action/Global part of the Attack Step. This is important because the damage could KO characters with the damage, or even trigger certain abilities. If the equipped character attacks and is blocked by three characters, each of those three characters will take one damage from the Flaming Sword. If the equipped character blocks an attacking character, the attacker will take one damage from the Flaming Sword. This ability is not optional.

The next portion of the ability says that the Flaming Sword counts as Gear. This means that any card or ability that would affect or target Gear, can affect or target the Basic Action Dice representing the Flaming Sword.

The last part of the ability says “It can’t be ignored.” I would assume this to be referencing the previous sentence and means that Flaming Sword can’t lose the ability to be Gear.

*** NOTE ***This cannot be ignored. – There isn’t an official ruling as to what the sentence is specifically referring to on the card. I have ruled at my local venue that the sentence directly refers to the sentence before it: This die counts as Gear. Make sure you check with your local venue as to how they are ruling it.

Examples

Example One:
Flaming Sword’s Direct Damage vs Blockers

~ I have a Gnome Ranger, Minion Harper with a Flaming Sword equipped.
~ My opponent has three Sidekicks in the Field Zone.
~ At the beginning of the Attack Step, I declare my attack with my Gnome Ranger.
~ My opponent declares all three Sidekicks as blockers and blocks my Gnome Ranger with all three Sidekicks.
~ Abilities that trigger after blockers are assigned will trigger here, so Flaming Sword’s special ability will trigger. All three Sidekicks will take one damage each.
~ The three Sidekicks will be KO’d and placed into the Prep Area.
~ During the Action/Global part of the Attack Step, neither player uses a Global and I do not use any Action Dice.
~ Damage is now assigned. My Gnome Ranger was blocked, but there are no longer any blocking characters to assign damage to so the Gnome Ranger doesn’t assign any damage. The Gnome Ranger does not damage my opponent with it’s attack.
~ My Gnome Ranger will return to the Field Zone because it was blocked.

~ I have a level one Gnome Ranger, Minion Harper (3A, 1D) with a Flaming Sword equipped which increases my Gnome Ranger’s attack and defense to 5A, 3D.
~ My opponent has three Sidekicks and a level three Glabrezu, Minion Fiend (5A, 6D) in the Field Zone.
~ At the beginning of the Attack Step, my opponent declares an attack with all three Sidekicks and the Glabrezu.
~ I declare my Gnome Ranger as a blocker and block the Glabrezu.
~ Abilities that trigger after blockers are assigned will trigger here, so Flaming Sword’s special ability will trigger and the Glabrezu takes one damage. This means the Glabrezu can only take five more damage before it’s KO’d.
~ During the Action/Global part of the Attack Step, neither player uses a Global and my opponent does not use any Action Dice.
~ Damage is now assigned. My Gnome Ranger and the Glabrezu do their attack value (with bonuses) to each other and the three Sidekicks deal their attack value to my life total.
~ My Gnome Ranger will be KO’d and placed in the Prep Area, while the Flaming Sword remains unattached in the Field Zone. My opponent’s Glabrezu will also be placed in the Prep Area because Gnome Ranger did five damage to his remaining defense which was enough to KO him.
~ The unblocked Sidekicks go out of play until the Clean Up Step, where they will then go to the Used Pile.

~ I have a level one Gnome Ranger, Minion Harper (3A, 1D) with a Flaming Sword equipped which increases my Gnome Ranger’s attack and defense to 5A, 3D.
~ My opponent has three Sidekicks and a level one Goblin, Lesser Humanoid (2A, 1D) in the Field Zone.
~ At the beginning of the Attack Step, my opponent declares an attack with all three Sidekicks and the Goblin.
~ I declare my Gnome Ranger as a blocker and block the Goblin.
~ Abilities that trigger after blockers are assigned will trigger here, so Flaming Sword’s special ability will trigger, and the Goblin will take one damage.
~ The Goblin is KO’d and put in the Prep Area.
~ During the Action/Global part of the Attack Step, neither player uses a Global and my opponent does not use any Action Dice.
~ Damage is now assigned. My Gnome Ranger is not currently assigned to an attacking character so she doesn’t do any combat damage but the three Sidekicks deal their attack value to my life total.
~ My Gnome Ranger is not KO’d by any attacking character because the attacker that was blocked was KO’d before the Assign Damage part of the Attack Step.
~ The unblocked Sidekicks go out of play until the Clean Up Step, where they will then go to the Used Pile.

Official Sources

There are no official sources specifically for Flaming Sword. There are a few about Gear that apply.

You can find the official ruling for multiple copies (stacking)here.
You can find the official ruling for targeting here.
You can find the official ruling about characters losing the Equip Icon here.
You can find the official ruling about captured equipped dice here.

Competitive Play Rating

For the competitive scene, there are far too many other Basic Action Cards that are better than Flaming Sword. Even if you were to build a competitive Gear focused team, there are other Gear cards that would be more useful. The card itself isn’t terrible, it’s just not as good as other Gear cards. With some meta cards, like Hulk, Green Goliath, you do not want to use a card like this. Until the meta changes either by a ban list or set rotation, I don’t see this card making any competitive list as a utilized card.

Flaming Sword, Basic Action Card gets a competitive play rating of zero out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

Giving this card a two out of five stars does not mean this card is bad for casual play. It means the card can be very confusing and not very easy to work with. Flaming Sword requires at least one other card on your team be a specific type of card. Cards that have strict limits like this are not usually ones I recommend for beginners. My ratings are also based off of a Constructed format, which would include all sets and not just the set a card is in. If you’re playing with nothing but Dungeons and Dragons cards, you don’t have anything to worry about here. There are loads of great casual characters that can have Gear attached to them.

I do feel that Flaming Sword, along with other Equip/Gear cards are great teaching tools and are not seen near enough. If you build a team tailored for Gear, this card would be a great option and I would highly recommend this card for consideration on a Gear centered team for a more advanced player to use as a teaching tool.

Flaming Sword, Basic Action Card gets a casual play rating of two out of five stars.

Reader Questions

I had a few specific questions asked about this card, so I thought I would add them in here even if they’re covered in the article.

Question:What is the nature of the damage done by the sword? Is it combat damage?Answer:
The direct damage done by the Flaming Sword is ability damage. It’s not considered Combat Damage.

Question:
When does the damage apply?Answer:
The Flaming Sword’s ability damage is triggered after blockers are assigned during the Attack Step, but before the Action/Global part.

Question:
Can I field the Flaming Sword Basic Action Die as though it were gear?Answer:
Yes. The card states that the dice count as Gear. All game rules that apply to Gear, apply to these dice as well.

Question:
How does Blue Dragon, Apprentice Dragon ability interact with this card?Answer:
When you use this particular Action Die, you place it in the Field Zone (References: FUS Rulebook Page 12 and here). As long as the Blue Dragon is active, when you place this Gear die in the Field Zone, you get to choose a character and that character can’t block for the turn.

Question:
How do cards like this interact with Beholder, Master Aberration?Answer:I don’t have an official answer for this one. I can only answer with the way I’ve ruled it at my local venue. This does not mean that I’m right, it’s just my perspective, so you should check with your local TO on how they plan to rule an ability like this.

Beholder’s ability allows you to use Basic Actions as though you had rolled them. The most important text is “as though you had rolled them” and means that you must have a legal target for the ability as well as be legally able to complete the action. Beholder must have been assigned to attack to use his ability which means you wouldn’t be able to field a Sidekick that rolled by using Resurrection because you’re already in the Attack Step and beyond the point that you could field a character (unless otherwise stated in the card ability). You can use Resurrection with Beholder’s ability to roll any die from your Used Pile, but rolling a character side is not helpful.

To be able to use Flaming Sword’s ability with Beholder, I would check to see if I had a legal target for the Basic Action Die’s ability. Beholder says to use the ability as though you had just rolled it, so if I had just rolled the Action Die, can I Equip the die? If not, then you would not legally be able to use the ability. Normally you can’t use Action Dice before the Action/Global part of the Attack Step, but the Beholder allows you to bypass that and use the ability as though you had just rolled it. I would rule that Beholder would allow you to use the Flaming Sword, so long as you had a character than can be equipped with it.

I don’t see any reason as to why you wouldn’t be able to grant the ability to a character that can use Gear, because with Beholder’s ability you get to use the Basic Action Die which would mean that you could Equip it as you played it as per the Equip rules. Until end of turn, you would have a character with a ghostly Flaming Sword (at least at my venue – remember that this is not official and to check with your TO).

Question:
How does Beholder and Blue Dragon together, interact with the Flaming Sword?Answer:
Provided that your local TO rules the way I do on Beholder, if you have a character that can use the Flaming Sword, the following would happen (starting at the Attack Step):

When Attacks abilities will trigger. I can choose to use all of the Basic Actions as though I had rolled them (for the sake of example, we’ll pretend that I’m not able to use three of the Basic Actions).

I use the Flaming Sword Basic Action with my Beholder and Equip it to the Gnome Ranger.

After using the Flaming Sword and Equipping it to the Gnome Ranger, Blue Dragon allows me to choose an opposing character that can’t block this turn. I choose my opponent’s only character in the Field Zone.

If there are any legal blockers, they can now be assigned. In this example, there are no legal blockers.

When Blocking/Blocked abilities would trigger, but there aren’t any in this example.

If I had any Action Dice in my Reserve Pool, I could use them now.

If either player wanted to use any Globals, they could be used now.

We would assign damage at this point, which would be zero to me and my characters. My opponent would take my characters’ full attack values as combat damage which would include my Gnome Ranger’s additional +2A from Flaming Sword.

Unblocked characters go out of play.

Clean Up starts – effects and damage are cleared from character dice (including the Flaming Sword from Beholder if the Gnome Ranger had stayed in the Field Zone); all out of play dice are moved to the Use Pile; the active player’s turn ends.

* Please keep in mind that some of these responses are based off of my understanding of the game and my interpretation of the cards and rules. I do understand that there are opinions that are different from mine and I don’t mind discussion, but please do not respond in a hateful or negative way to me or anyone that comments on my articles. Thanks!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

I don’t get many requests for specific cards, but when I do, I feature them as soon as possible. Today, we’re going to take a look at Gnome Ranger, Master Lords’ Alliancefrom the Dungeons and Dragons Faerûn Under Siege Starter Set.

Ruling – Experience Ability

Gnome Ranger has the Experience keyword. Experience is a While Active ability, which only works if you have at least one of that character’s dice in the Field Zone. Experience allows the character(s) with the keyword to gain an Experience Token if at least one opposing Monster(represented by the black Monster Flag) was KO’d during your turn. You can use almost any type of gaming token to represent Experience Tokens. I use a regular die (D6 or D8 usually) but some folks like to use glass beads.

Each Experience Token on a character’s card grants the character dice a +1A and +1D.

KO’ing your own Monsters or Monsters KO’d during your opponent’s turn will not grant you an Experience Token.

You cannot gain more than one Experience Token on any one character card each turn, but multiple characters can each gain an Experience Token.

A character that leaves the Field Zone does not lose their Experience Tokens. Experience Tokens are not removed unless a card or game effect would remove them.

Characters with Experience do not need to be the character that KO’s a Monster; they only need to be active in the Field to see the Monster get KO’d.

Experience Tokens are placed on the characters at the end of turn, so if a character with Experience is KO’d or unbloked, they are no longer active at the end of turn to receive an Experience Token.

Characters with Experience are typically considered Adventurers – though there are several exceptions. Those characters state that they are not Adventurers on their card.

Ruling – Ability

Aside from Experience, Gnome Ranger has another ability. It says that as your Gnome Ranger is active, your other attacking character dice gain +1A until end of turn. While Active abilities work like a light switch – they are either on, or off. It does not matter how many Gnome Ranger dice you have in the Field Zone, your other attacking character dice will only gain +1A until end of turn.

This ability only works while your other character dice are attacking. Your character dice will not get a bonus from Gnome Ranger if they’re blocking or just sitting in the Field Zone.

Your Gnome Ranger dice do not need to be attacking to give your other attacking character dice the +1A until end of turn. The attack bonus does not get applied to the attackers until after they are assigned to attack.

Official Sources

There are not any official rulings for this specific card.
You can find some information on Experience here.

Competitive Play Rating

I like this card, and if it wasn’t for Bard being such a huge meta card, I think this card would see a little more competitive play. It’s so nice to have a character that can sit back in the Field Zone and buff your attackers, unlike the Bard that gives the buffs while it attacks. The Gnome Ranger could have problems if you come across Scarecrow, Legion of Doom and you’re using low base attack characters. It’s level three fielding cost is not ideal for how low it’s defense is. With Bard so prevalent in the meta, the Gnome Ranger won’t see higher than a two star rating from me for competitive play. It’s a good card, just not good enough to make it’s way into the major competitive meta.

Gnome Ranger, Master Lords’ Alliance gets a competitive play rating of two out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

Now, for casual settings, this card has the best opportunity to shine. Its buff ability is not overly complicated, but does require strategy at times. This card has the potential to be a great teaching tool about attacking since it does need to be attacking to buff the other dice. It’s also a very inexpensive die to purchase and can be a heavy hitter on it’s level three side. This is a wonderful card for any beginner and it’s even great for the more advanced casual player. I would absolutely recommend this card to any casual player of any skill level. Gnome Ranger can definitely find its way onto some casual teams.

Gnome Ranger, Master Lords’ Alliance gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Masters!

Here is my next installment of my Top List articles, Top 10 Bolt Characters! And once again, Travis and Aaron have contributed their lists, so a huge thanks to them for their help!

The cards I chose are cards that are either very important to the major competitive meta, cards that make for extremely fun combos, or cards that help to shape the game.

Each card has a link to their TRP Wiki page. If you’d like a closer look at the card, follow the link. A huge thanks to TRP for their Wiki. It’s an extremely valuable tool for many players and folks like myself.

Honorable Mentions

I’ve decided to kick this list off with my honorable mentions before doing the countdown to my number one – top Bolt Character.

These cards either have great Globals or very useful abilities and maybe are not used as much as they should be. Here are my honorable mentions:

DDK’s Top 10 Bolt Characters

Number 10

I really like Johnny Storm’s ability and it was one of the earliest ‘burn’ abilities. His ability is great because it damages your opponent and a character. You can easily target one of your own characters with a brutal ability, like Hulk, Green Goliath, and wreck your opponent’s field. That combo is still being used to this day. That’s one of the reasons Johnny Storm squeaked into my list at number ten. He’s very effective with a combo character, but he can be used alone as well.

Number 9

I love this Non-Basic Action Card and I know it’s not technically a character, but it uses a character slot on your team. It blanks a character during your turn, so it helps you get around Oracle while leaving other potentially useful characters untouched. There are times that I don’t want to Prismatic Spray my opponent’s entire side, because I may want to use one of their Globals during my Attack Step. I will always choose Kryptonite over Spray.

Number 8

Red Dragon has a decent ability if you want to purchase him, but he’s really just on my list because of his Global. The reason he’s not higher is because he needs to be on a team that is going to use Action Dice as their important/main purchases. I would use him over Blue-Eyes, I would if Actions were my main thing. He does a little damage to your opponent and then reduced the Action Die’s cost. You can’t get much better than that for Actions!

Number 7

Foot Ninja is going to become a key card for Flying Sidekicks, or Sidekick heavy teams. He’s too good to pass up! He can plug into other teams fairly easily, but he won’t work as well as he would on a Sidekick specific team. This is one of my favorite cards from my favorite set, but because he works primarily best on a specific team, he only makes number seven on my list.

Number 6

And I know this isn’t a character, but it does use a character slot. I can’t put this higher on my list than number six, even though it’s a meta card and it’s really good. I’ve put it on teams as a miscellaneous card and found that I didn’t want to buy it because it clogged my bag on teams that didn’t need it. It can theoretically work on any team, but I wouldn’t recommend it for any team that has more than two energy types as main attackers. I find myself using my energy and not holding it for the Attack Step.

Number 5

Miri is a great character to help you field one cost characters really fast. She works for Swarm Kobolds or Morphing Jars, and if you’re using a Guy Gardner team – she gets more Guys out for you. She’s a key component for Rush teams.

Number 4

I’m sure most folks thought that Nova would be number one, but he’s not! Surprise! He’s my number four because he does have a higher purchasing cost and higher fielding cost on level three. But his ability is what ‘rockets’ him to number four instead of just an honorable mention. You don’t need to attack with him to use his ability. You can attack with any character and then use a Global like the one on Magic Missile, and do damage to Nova to damage your opponent. Then your Nova is still in the Field for your opponent’s turn. He’s got great stats and a very unique ability.

Number 3

Gobby was a meta shaping character at one point and that’s the main reason he’s number three on my list. He works great with cards that have abilities or Globals that help you get Sidekicks out, like Ring, Lesser Gear or White Tiger, Mystical Amulet. When you pair Gobby with Parallax‘s Global, he can be brutal. But playing the lottery is always a risk.

Number 2

This card is really good and is hard to get around at times. He works well on any team and even better on a Bolt Ring Team. He’s a favorite card of mine and he doesn’t need much explanation on why he’s number two on my list.

Number 1

And what should be no surprise to anyone at all – Blue-Eyes tops my list! This card changed the meta is such a huge way that he’s played on about 80% of teams. He’s got such a great Global that is very dynamic for many teams. There are lots of characters that have KO abilities and his Global helps you move those along. Solomon Grundy, Buried on a Sunday is one such character. There isn’t much that needs to be said about how good this card is, and he even has a decent ability, not just an amazing Global!

Breakdown of rarity on my list:

Super Rare = 1Rare = 4Uncommon = 1Common/Starter = 4

Travis and Aaron’s Top Ten Lists

I only added links in their lists for cards not mentioned above.

Travis is my husband and can play almost any team you put in his hands. He’s very knowledgeable and creative when it comes to competitive teams. His list is based off of cards he actually plays, wants to play, or cards he really likes. He didn’t pick cards just because they’re in the major competitive meta.

Aaron is the son of our FLGS’s owner. He’s got the skill to be competitive, but prefers to play different teams with quirky mechanics, or teams that aren’t what you’d expect. He’s practically grown up in the store and played just about every collectible game out there.

Each card with a Global Ability counts as a different Global Ability, even if the card or effect is identical. When a Beholder die is fielded, you could use the Global on your Blue-Eyes card as well as the Global on your opponent’s Blue-Eyes card.

Ruling – Global

This Global ability allows you to move a Spell die on an Action face from your Reserve Pool and place it on the Beholder’s card. When you start your next Roll and Reroll Step, you take that Spell die and place it in the Reserve Pool on the same side.

Since this Global places the Spell in the Reserve Pool, it is my belief that you do not get to roll or reroll that die. Your Roll and Reroll Step specifies that you roll the dice you drew and the dice from your Prep Area. I have submitted this question to WORF so that we have an official reference.

There is a very important clarification that I feel should be made about this Global. The term Spell refers to only a few very specific cards.

These are currently the only Spell cards in the game. I was using the Global to store Polymorph Action Dice during a casual game last night until my opponent asked if they could use the Global as well. We then discovered that Polymorph is not considered a Spell. If it doesn’t say Spell in the name or sub-name, it not an eligible target for this Global. (I blame my background in D&D for this misinterpretation.)

When used properly, it allows you to save an Spell die that you may not want to use on one turn, and potentially use it later. If you still aren’t able to use it or want to save it, you only need to pay the Global and store the Spell again. Either player may use this Global and may store a Spell die, but only if they have one to place on the Beholder’s card.

Official Sources

Here is the official Ruling on Beholder’s ability.
You can also find information about using the same Global on two different cards in the FAQ, but there is also a Ruling on WORF.

Competitive Play Rating

Beholder is a great way to bypass that tax that Oracle and Jinzo add to your Globals. Not only is the ability amazing, but Beholder is great Blue-Eyes food and even better for Fabricate. I know this card has seen major meta play and I wouldn’t be surprised if it sees even more in the future. He’s an inexpensive Mask character and he’s got beefy stats for his fielding costs too. This card is just great overall and it just gets better if you’re using one of the three Spells.

Beholder, Lesser Aberration gets a competitive play rating of four out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

This card makes for some interesting casual play! I used him on a team with Two-Face last night and he almost out-shined Two-Face! My strategy for Two-Face quickly became my strategy for the Beholder, but he didn’t do the job quite as well as Two-Face. For a beginner, this card may be a little too confusing at first and would require some practice to figure out how to properly use his Global. Most of the time, this card is used exclusively for his ability. That in itself is odd, since most cards with Globals are picked because of their Globals. I still think this card is great for casual play, even with its slightly confusing Global. His stats and fielding costs are way too good and his ability makes him really good!

Beholder, Lesser Aberration gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Masters!

I’m back this week with an article similar to TRP’s recent Podcast with my Top 10 Shield Character List. Travis and Aaron have also contributed again this week with their lists.

The cards I chose are cards that are either very important to the major competitive meta, cards that make for extremely fun combos, or cards that help to shape the game.

Each card has a link to their TRP Wiki page. If you’d like a closer look at the card, follow the link. A huge thanks to TRP for their Wiki. It’s an extremely valuable tool for many players and folks like myself.

Honorable Mentions

I’ve decided to kick this list off with my honorable mentions before doing the countdown to my number one – top Shield Character. These cards either have great Globals or very useful abilities and maybe are not used as much as they should be. Here are my honorable mentions:

DDK’s Top 10 Shield Characters

Number 10

The reason Antihero squeaked into my list at number ten is because of how popular a few Continuous Action Dice are, like Lantern Ring, Limited Only By Imagination. His purchase cost is not expensive and if you can’t use his ability, he makes for an inexpensive chump blocker. If Continuous Action Dice weren’t as prevalent in the meta, this card would not have made it onto my list. He was used against me several times at the WKO2 I played in, but luckily I was able roll my Lantern Ring on an Action Side almost every time.

Number 9

I love how versatile this card is. You don’t have to run a single affiliation to get his defense bonus, and if that’s what you’re lacking on your team, check this guy out! He is kinda pricey, but there are plenty of cost reducers and his benefits definitely outweigh the con of his purchase cost. His level one side is very weak, but his other sides have great stats. He only needs to be active to give your characters the defense bonus.

Number 8

This character has a Global that elevates him to my number eight spot. His ability is great and his purchase cost is fantastic, but it really is the Global that makes this card that much better. He helps you get around a nuisance character because you can force that character to block, then attack with only one character that has the power to take it out. There are plenty of attack pumping Globals to help increase your attackers damage as well.

Number 7

This card is a big part of several teams and this card’s Global is the reason it’s made it to number seven on my list. If not for this Global, this card would not have even made it to my honorable mentions. Using this Global to bring a Sidekick die into your Reserve Pool on any side you want is extremely good! This could make or break a turn for some teams, and luckily, it doesn’t have to be paid with an energy from a Sidekick die.

Number 6

Alfred is a key component to most Bat-Bomb teams, but he’s useful to other teams as well. His overall usefulness is why he made it all the way to my number six spot. He makes for a great blocker as well, because he could just come right back without you having to reroll him. He’s a great card for beginners too and that’s one thing I take into consideration. He makes for a fantastic draft pick if you’re lucky enough to grab one.

Number 5

There is not much need for explanation on this card or why he’s at number five on my list. He’s cheap to buy, he’s easy to field, and his ability is amazing. He’s a very popular card and used by many players, but he’s not one that is why he’s not a little higher on my list.

Number 4

I love Avengers teams and Patch is a character that every Avengers team should consider adding. He allows your unblocked Avengers to deal their attack damage to your opponent twice. With Patch active, if you’re able to get an unblocked Avenger with an attack of ten through to your opponent, that’s 20 damage. Even an attack of four can be very painful because Patch makes it eight damage instead. Patch is almost a must have for Avengers and they can be devastating if the team is built well.

Number 3

Jinzo is such a pain to players that use lots of Globals or use a particular Global a lot. He slowly kills your opponent while you’re setting up for the finishing blow. The only reason he’s not higher on my list is because of his purchase cost. You can reduce his cost with one of the cost reducers, but you need him active as early as possible. He’s usually the biggest target in the Field Zone for cards like Dwarf Wizard, Prismatic Spray, and Kryptonite. He’s still a really good character and he’s used a lot.

Number 2

I love control cards – as most of you know. Clown Prince is probably one of my favorite control cards, aside from Oracle. He keeps your opponent from fielding that nuisance character as long as Joker is active. I haven’t used him as much as I should because there are other local players that used him and I don’t like using the same cards as other locals. He hasn’t seen much activity in our local scene lately so I may have to build a new control team with him. I like to pair him with Oracle and Cerebro, Supercomputer and a heavy hitter for win condition.

Number 1

I’m not sure this comes as a surprise to anyone, but Bard is my number one pick. He’s not number one because I like him or play him, he’s number one because he’s shaped the current meta. He’s got such an amazing ability, and it’s too good. I personally feel that this card is one that needs an errata or a ban, because there aren’t many answers that work well enough to stop or slow this card. Bard comes from the Faerûn Under Siege starter, which is so great for newer players.

Breakdown of rarity on my list:

Super Rare = 2Rare = 2Uncommon = 3Common/Starter = 3

Travis and Aaron’s Top Ten Lists

I only added links in their lists for cards not mentioned above.

Travis is my husband and can play almost any team you put in his hands. He’s very knowledgeable and creative when it comes to competitive teams. His list is based off of cards he actually plays, wants to play, or cards he really likes. He didn’t pick cards just because they’re in the major competitive meta.

Aaron is the son of our FLGS’s owner. He’s got the skill to be competitive, but prefers to play different teams with quirky mechanics, or teams that aren’t what you’d expect. He’s practically grown up in the store and played just about every collectible game out there.

Greetings Fellow Dice Masters!

I’ve been wanting to do ‘Top List’ articles for a while, but I haven’t felt inspired to do any. This week, The Reserve Pool’s podcast episode is a Top 10 Mask Character list (based off of the episode description). I haven’t listened to it, because I don’t want any subconscious influences on my list. Being that I admire TRP so much, it would be hard to make my own list without thinking of theirs. I also wanted to add the lists of two other players, just to see how other folks ranked cards. You can find them toward the end of the article.

I started the process by writing down all the Mask Characters that I liked and ended up with a list of twenty characters. I looked over the list and tried to find the best way to break it down. I ended up with my top ten cards, and five honorable mentions. The cards I chose are cards that are either very important to the major competitive meta, cards that make for extremely fun combos, or cards that help to shape the game.

Each card has a link to their TRP Wiki page. If you’d like a closer look at the card, follow the link. A huge thanks to TRP for their Wiki. It’s an extremely valuable tool for many players and folks like myself.

Honorable Mentions

I’ve decided to kick this list off with my honorable mentions before doing the countdown to my number one – top Mask Character.

These cards either have great Globals or very useful abilities and maybe are not used as much as they should be. Here are my honorable mentions:

DDK’s Top 10 Mask Characters

Number 10

Black Cat squeaked into my tenth place spot, just beating out Storm. I know that Storm does damage, but Black Cat can potentially clear an entire wall from the Field Zone. Black Cat does not target characters either, like Storm does, she targets the opponent. This is also an interesting mechanic that you don’t see much – targeting an opponent for effect as opposed to targeting for damage. That’s why she made the cut and Storm only made it to honorable mentions. Black Cat has decent stats on level one and two for the fielding cost, while her level three fielding cost is mediocre. She can pack a punch on an opponent that doesn’t have any blockers and if you’re using Blue-Eyes White Dragon, she can be practically devastating.

Number 9

Loki has been a favorite of mine since the early days of AvX. He’s one of the earliest versions of direct control and he’s got a super beefy defense. Back in AvX days, he was very difficult to buy, like all characters with a cost of five of more, but now we have shenanigans to help with that. Characters that have high defense stats are usually difficult to get around through damaging him. If you’re facing off against a Loki, you almost need a Kryptonite or Prismatic Spray to get around him. He’s not a character you want to see across the table from you. I love using this card even though I haven’t used him in a while. I like playing aggressive control teams, but I’m usually lacking in the defense department, and he brings that defensive side too.

Number 8

I love my Bat-Bomb team so much, but it’s about to go under construction. It’s so much fun to play, but it can sometimes crash and burn. I’ve written a CCW about this card before, because there are so many facets to the mechanics of his ability. He can literally KO your opponent with one attack, by himself – if you build a team around him. He takes my number eight spot because of how unique and unusual his ability is, but also because of how powerful he can be when paired with the right cards. He also has a Global that works well with many other cards in the World’s Finest set.

Number 7

This Venom is totally going on my Sidekick/Ally team with Foot Ninja and Falcon. This card is brutal! Not only do you have a little control on this card, but you have that ‘burn’ or direct damage on it too. This card is right perfect for my play style and I’m personally shocked that I haven’t built a team with him yet. I will most definitely remedy that soon! I know his purchase cost is five and folks cringe at that, but his stats and fielding costs are great! You don’t normally see control paired with direct damage on the same card like this, and since Allies count as Sidekicks when in the Field Zone, they will trigger his ability. I can’t wait to put this team together.

Number 6

This card… oh my goodness! Block him if you want to, but he’s hitting you too! I currently use this card on my Villain team and I also featured him in a CCW. But just imagine this guy having Overcrush and pumping his attack up. His fielding costs and stats seem good, especially for his ability. Using a Global, like the one on Polymorph, can help you level him up for maximum damage. There are so many things you can do with this card, and he’s not limited to a team of only Villains, but he works well with other Villains.

Number 5

Who doesn’t like free stuff? This character’s ability is so good. When you field him, you get two different Globals for free. This helps you get around that pesky Jinzo and Oracle too – free is free. The only thing is, you have to use two different cards. You can’t use your Professor X two times, but you could use yours and your opponent’s because they’re two ‘different’ cards. He’s great fodder for Blue-Eyes too because of his fielding costs. Not only does he have some of the best fielding costs, but his he has stats that are amazing too!

Number 4

This card took my fourth place spot because it was a minor game changing card when it released. This was the first card with a purchase cost of one. It’s also a Mask character… so when Yu-Gi-Oh! released and we pulled our first Morphing Jar, we were stunned. We couldn’t believe there was a one cost Mask Character. We realized just how fast the game was going to speed up at that point – mainly because you could buy them quickly and use them for PXG. This card doesn’t need text, primarily because of it’s purchase cost. It’s okay if you don’t roll energy with this die because the stats are pretty good and the fielding costs are great!

Number 3

#OracleHypeIsReal
I’ve loved this character since the first time I actually used her. I love control stuff, like I mentioned earlier and Oracle is very much a control card. She taxes your opponent an energy when they try to use a Global, which doesn’t seem like much, but it makes you change the way you play. Instead of spending an energy for a Polymorph Global, you gotta save it so you can PXG. She’s very difficult to play around if you’re not prepared! She a four cost character that also provides a decent defense, but you don’t have to worry about her getting KO’d. Why is that, you ask? Her fielding costs on all sides are zero – that’s right – 0, 0, 0. What more could you want?

Number 2

This is probably one of the most devastating cards that can be easily manipulated. You only need Parallax’s Global and some lucky rolls and your opponent will not have any energy left in their Reserve Pool. As long as you have an energy in your Reserve Pool, you can field the Elf Thief for free – yay free stuff! You could use the energy you steal to use Parallax’s Global and then reroll that Elf Thief again. While Parallax is used to help this card become such a force of nature, this card can stand on it’s own. That’s why it’s so high on my list and why Parallax only made an honorable mention. This card makes for perfect Blue-Eyes fodder too. You do not want to see this card across from you, because it’s hard to play around – more so than Oracle. You really need a backup plan in place on your team, just in case you come across this card, which is likely since it’s a common.

Number 1

And here it is – my number one pick on Mask characters! I know that many folks like the rare version, Professor X, Trainer, over the common, but I prefer the common. I could see myself using the common to more advantage than just being able to give a static buff to my Sidekicks – that is, if I had to purchase him. But that’s not why either of them would have made this top spot. The reason I picked Professor X as my top Mask character is because of his Global. PXG literally changed the game, and it has shaped the game since the release of Uncanny X-Men in October of 2014. We really only had Beast, Mutate #666 and Gambit, Ace in the Hole for ramp and churn, so when we saw this Global, we all knew this card would be a complete game changer. This card is a staple on almost every team and if you can build a team that can function on a high level of play without PXG, then you have something special! We saw that it can be done with the rise of the Bard Blitz team. I hate to think of what the game would be like without this Global, but at least it won’t be as bad as it was in AvX days.

Breakdown of rarity on my list:

Super Rare = 1Rare = 2Uncommon = 2Common/Starter = 5

Travis and Aaron’s Top Ten Lists

I only added links in their lists for cards not mentioned above.

Travis is my husband and can play almost any team you put in his hands. He’s very knowledgeable and creative when it comes to competitive teams. I hope that he’ll write guest articles for for blog someday! Also – his list is based off of cards he actually plays, wants to play, or cards he really likes. He didn’t pick cards just because they’re in the major competitive meta.

Aaron is the son of our FLGS’s owner. He’s got the skill to be competitive, but prefers to play different teams with quirky mechanics, or teams that aren’t what you’d expect. He’s practically grown up in the store and played just about every collectible game out there.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

Today, we’re going to take a look at Half-Elf Bard, Master Lords’ Alliance from the Dungeons and Dragons Faerûn Under Siege Starter set.

Ruling – Ability

The first ability on Half-Elf Bard is Experience. Experience grants a +1A/+1D token on the character’s card when a monster is KO’d by you on your turn. The character with Experience must be active at the time the monster is KO’d. A monster is a character that has the ‘Monster Flag‘ on it’s character card. The counters do not leave the character card unless an ability or other game effect would remove them. Characters cannot gain more than one Experience token (each) per turn. Characters with the Experience keyword are called Adventurers.

The second part of Half-Elf Bard’s ability is the one I really want to focus on. When Half-Elf Bard attacks, each attacking character die will get +1A and +1D for each other different character that you control.

Half-Elf Bard will also get the bonus, as long as there is a different character active when the Half-Elf Bard attacks. The ability says that each attacking character gets the bonus so it does not exclude the Half-Elf Bard from getting the ability bonus.

This ability counts individual characters, not individual dice. If you have three different characters (Half-Elf Bard, Sidekick, and Kobold), then your characters would get +2A and +2D when they all attacked. If you had one Half-Elf Bard, two Sidekicks, and two Kobolds, then your characters still only get +2A and +2D when they all attack.

Each Half-Elf Bard that attacks will be able to trigger its ability, much like Black Widow, Tsarina. If you were to attack with two Half-Elf Bard, one Sidekick, and one Kobold, each Half-Elf Bard ability would give each attacking character +2A and +2D for a total of +4A and +4D.

Example:

~ I have two Half-Elf Bard dice, one Morphing Jar, two Sidekicks, and one Miri Riam.~ I attack with all six character dice.~ My first Half-Elf Bard will trigger.~ Each dice will see three other attacking characters. The first Half-Elf Bard’s ability will grant them each +3A and +3D.~ My second Half-Elf Bard will trigger.~ Each dice will see three other attacking characters. The second Half-Elf Bard’s ability will grant them each an additional +3A and +3D.~ My characters will each have a +6A and +6D given to them by the two Half-Elf Bards’ abilities.

Official Sources

Competitive Play Rating

Not much needs to be said about this card in regards to competitive play. It speaks for itself. The reason I gave it four and half and not five stars is because while the card is great, it’s not a card for every team in the meta. I’ve seen tons of teams utilize this card effectively, but not every team would benefit from the Bard. For example, my current Nova Ring team does not have a place for him and probably wouldn’t find him useful. I’ve seen him used to great effect on Poly Hulk variants and of course Blitz. So, he’s a fantastic card all on his own and can fit on almost any team out there as an additional ‘punch’ or as the star of the team.

Half-Elf Bard, Master Lords’ Alliance gets a competitive play rating of four and a half out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

As long as you’re not bringing Bard Blitz, then Half-Elf Bard makes for a great casual card. It has a powerful ability that can boost any casual team’s damage output. Its purchasing cost is just right for its ability and the ability is easily explained. This character is great in limited play where players are only allowed to use Dungeons and Dragons cards, but is also really good on other teams outside of D&D. Another thing that makes this card so great for casual play is that it comes from the Faerûn Under Siege Starter set. Powerful cards that are included in starter sets help to give new players something strong to work with against other players that already have powerful cards. I would definitely recommend this card for any casual player of any skill level. Playing with or against this card helps teach players to play on a more strategic level as well.

Half-Elf Bard, Master Lords’ Alliance gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

Today, we’re going to take a look at Delayed Blast Fireball, Basic Action Card from the Faerûn Under Siege Starter set.

Ruling – Ability

Typically, any Action Dice left in your Reserve Pool will clear to your Used Pile during the Clean Up Step at the end of your turn. The keyword Continuous on any Action Card (Basic or Non-Basic), simply means that when you use the Action Dice, they remain in the Field Zone beyond your turn. The type of ability on the Action Card will determine when the Action Dice are used and where they go.

Delayed Blast Fireball says that when your opponent declares an attack or skips their Attack Step, Delayed Blast Fireball will deal four damage to all opposing characters and then the Action Dice is moved to your Used Pile. If the Action Dice are showing a double burst (**), then it deals six damage instead.

The breakdown will help explain how this Action is used.

During my Roll and Reroll Step, I roll a Delayed Blast Fireball Action Die on the single burst Action side. I decide to keep it and not reroll it.

During my Main Step, I place my Delayed Blast Fireball Action Die in the Field Zone.

I finish my turn and during the Clean Up Step at the end of my turn, my Delayed Blast Fireball Action Die remains in Field Zone instead of going to my Used Pile, because of the Continuous keyword.

My opponent begins their turn, they roll and reroll and then finish their Main Step.

My opponent decides to skip their Attack Step. At that time, before moving to the Clean Up Step, Delayed blast Fireball will activate and deal four damage to all my opponent’s characters.

If my opponent had decided to attack instead, they would get to choose their attackers and attack. Any effects that trigger when a character attacks would happen. My Delayed Blast Fireball would then activate and deal four damage to all of my opponent’s characters. If there are characters left attacking, I can then choose to block.

Competitive Play Rating

I know that this particular Action is an answer for a few teams out there. The question is, how much of an answer is it? How important is it to use this Basic Action? If you’re thinking about teching for Bard Blitz, you now have a chance to make a large purchase like this and even field it before the Blitz can get you. But in the recent test playing that my husband and I have been doing, I still don’t think it’s a necessary card. Basically, there are several answers for teams like Bard Blitz, but if the Blitz gets what it needs when it needs it, your answers won’t work. Bard Blitz is still a potential turn three win with the right rolls. I think some folks will try this card and some of those will like it and some will still lean towards Hulk, Green Goliath or other options. I do not think this particular card is for everyone or even for every team. I see this as a big rogue team card, but it’s possible you’ll see one or two in top cuts. That’s why I have to give it three and half stars because it’s a higher end rogue team card.

Delayed Blast Fireball, Basic Action Card gets a competitive play rating of three and a half out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

I feel like this card is very straightforward and easy to understand for a player of any skill level. The Continuous keyword is easy to explain and remember, and the ability is clear. It has a clear trigger and clear effect. The cost is somewhat high, but for the ability the card has, I would say it’s appropriate enough for competitive and casual play. This is a good starting Basic Action Card for any beginner and it’s even good for advanced players. There isn’t much to clarify on this card except the Continuous keyword. I would recommend this Basic Action Card for any casual player.

Delayed Blast Fireball, Basic Action Card gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave us a comment here or message us on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

Today, we’re going to take a look at Ring, Lesser Gear from the Faerûn Under Siege set.

Ruling – Ability

This is one of the many cards that can Equip to specific characters. The character must have the Equip symbol for you to be able to equip the gear dice to the character. When you equip the dice, you place the gear touching the equipped character die. You can attach the gear to a character when you field the gear die, or at the beginning of any turn, including your opponent’s turn. If the character leaves the Field Zone, the gear dice stay in the Field Zone, unattached. These dice cannot attack or block.

While this Ring is equipped to a character, the character will get +2D and they cannot be the target of Global Abilities.

Ruling – Global

This Global was intended to be like the one on Ring, Epic Gear. The Global on Lesser Gear is missing a key part of the text – on any face. This means that you can pay one of any energy and once during your turn you can put a Sidekick die from your Used Pile into your Reserve Pool, on any face you choose.

If you need a Mask Energy, but you have a Fist Energy in your Reserve Pool, you could spend that Fist and take a Sidekick from your Used Pile and place it on its Mask side in your Reserve Pool. You could even use this Global Ability to put a Sidekick in your Reserve Pool, on its Sidekick face.

The Global Ability is only available to you during your turn, and you can only use it once. It also does not affect characters with Ally, because those characters only count as Sidekicks while they are active in the Field Zone.

Competitive Play Rating

I do not know exactly how I feel about this card for competitive play. I feel like the best I can do is give it a rogue team rating of three stars. It depends completely on your team build if you would find this card useful. There are plenty of great characters that can use gear, and many of those see top tier play, but this particular version is probably not one you will see used for it’s ability. I see the Epic Gear being used for its ability above this version. But I can’t give it lower than three stars because you could see this card on teams specifically for it’s Global. It really all depends on how the teams are built and the play style of the person using the team. I don’t think that this card has a place on most teams.

I know some folks may say, “Isn’t this Ring better than Magic Helmet, Greater Gear?” As my husband pointed out to me when I mentioned this, the Magic Helmet protects your Human Paladin, Lesser Emerald Enclave from Actions and character abilities, while your Human Paladin protects your side from Globals. The ring only protects from your Human Paladin from Globals, which he does anyway.

Ring, Lesser Gear gets a competitive play rating of three out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

This is a great card for a casual player. You can use it on tons of different characters from both of the D&D sets, but one that stands out to me is Half-Elf Bard, Master Lords’ Alliance. The Half-Elf Bard is awesome and it comes from the starter for Faerûn Under Siege. Ring, Lesser Gear could easily find a spot on many different kinds of casual teams. You don’t have to play only Dungeons and Dragons to find this card useful. Beginners and casual players could also use this card for its Global and not even have a character with the Equip icon. Casual players should let their opponent know about the missing text and how the card is intended to work.

Ring, Lesser Gear gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave us a comment here or message us on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty.